Contactor with novel contact housing



Dec. 6, 1966 R. L. MCGARY 3,290,628

CONTACTOR WITH NOVEL CONTACT HOUSING Filed March 23, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet l A Dec. 6, 1966 R. L. M GARY CONTACTOR WITH NOVEL CONTACT HOUSING 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 23, .1965

ll In -JOU M w M Dec. 6, 1966 L. MCGARY 3,290,628

CONTACTOR WITH NOVEL CONTACT HOUSING Filed March 23, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 JO 99 .707 5g J04 59 1/0 mu m, T 56 F I I 1 Il :2 In r gg q gal --mw I ,fizuerzfon J00 @er,l%6'apg. Q7 14%.; 5%)? A wwa Dec. 6, 1966 R. 1.. MCGARY CONTACTOR WITH NOVEL CONTACT HOUSING Filed March 23, 1965 I IIIIIIIH'" III 123 iii? 4 Sheets-Sheet lfzz ergo r. foeglljf' a y @QQAQZM M W United States Patent 3 290,628 CONTACTOR WITH lN OVEL CONTACT HOUSING Robert L. McGary, Batavia, Ill, asslgnor to Furnas Electric Company, Batavia, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 441,964 3 Claims. (Cl. 335-131) The invention relates to electric switches having contacts which may be normally open or normally closed and has reference in particular to an industrial type relay consisting of a solenoid type actuator and one or more contact blocks operatively assembled on the solenoid actuator, the actuator thus providing the base for the combination.

The relay of the present invention has been especially designed for industrial use since it is possible to mount on a single actuator a plurality of contact blocks for various voltages such as a four pole three hundred volt block, or a three pole six hundred volt block. Since one or more contact blocks can be assembled on a single base the operator in the field can produce a relay for either a three hundred volt application or a six hundred vol-t application, or a combination of the two.

An additional object of the invention resides in the provision of a relay combination as described wherein the blocks can be easily assembled for various combinations of norm-ally open or normally closed contacts and wherein the contacts of each block are visible by means of a clear plastic cover which also serves as a dust shield.

Another object of the present invention is to provide contact blocks which can be operatively connected to each other by means of a special dovetail formation on the moveable contact carrier of each block and wherein adjacent blocks can be fixedly secured together by means of special securing screws held captive in the contact blocks, respectively.

Another object is to provide contact blocks for the purposes described wherein the carrier for the moveable contacts is releasably retained in place within its contact block by a releasable slide, the slide, in turn, being retained in its passageway by the plastic cover for the block.

With these and various other objects in view the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended there-to.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of an industrial type relay coming within the invention and which includes a three pole six hundred volt contact block and a four pole three hundred volt contact block;

FIGURE 2 is a view taken substantially on line 22 of FIGURE 1 and showing. in top plan the solenoid type actuator which provides the base for the relay com- 'bination;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, the said view being on a somewhat larger s-cale than FIGURE 2; I

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2, the .scale being the same as FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan View of the three pole six hundred volt contact block on a scale twice that as shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 7-7 of FIGURE 5;

3,290,628 Patented Dec. 6, 1966 FIGURE 8 is a top plan View of the four pole three hundred volt contact block on a scale twice that as shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 9 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 99 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 1010 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 11 is an exploded view showing the various parts, which when operatively assembled, comprise a contact block;

FIGURE 12 is a view in plan of a releasable base element which is retained by each of the contact blocks; and

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the manner of fixedly securing adjacent contact blocks by means of captive screws retained by the blocks, respectively.

The relay selected for illustrating the invention includes a solenoid actuator designated in its entirety by numeral 10, FIGURE 1, and which provides a base member for the industrial type relay. A first contact block 12 having three poles for a three-phase circuit is shown as mounted on the base member. A second con-tact block 14 having four poles for two single phase circuits is shown as mounted on these contact block 12. Referring again to the solenoid-type base actuator it will be observed from FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 that the housing 15 for the same is substantially rectangular in both top plan and side elevation. The housing 15- is formed of plastic, hard rubber and other suitable material having insulating qualities. The bottom wall 16 is recessed at 17 longitudinally of the member and both side walls 18' and 20 have integral therewith an exterior flange 21 which is employed for securing and anchoring the base member to a support. The walls 18 and 21 have varying thickness as best shown in FIGURE 2, the area of minimum thickness forming an inside cavity 22 for each wall. The end walls 23 and 24- are integral with the side walls and each end wall on its inside surface is grooved vertically at 25. The housing 15 is closed on its top side by a cover 26, also of plastic, hard rubber or the like, and which is secured to the housing by the screws 27, FIGURES 1 and 4. The cover is apertured centrally for receiving the armature to be presently described and the end walls of the cover are grooved vertically at 28 with the grooves communicating with the central aperture.

FIGURE 4 shows the housing 15 as retaining a-field magnet 30 consisting of soft iron laminations and having three upstanding leg portions identified by numerals 31, 32 and 33. The outer leg portions 31 and 33 are each provided with a shading coil 34 of copper and an energizing coil 35 is disposed in surrounding relation with the center leg 32. The coil is encased in a plastic shell and the solenoid thus formed is surrounded on all sides by the iron of the field magnet. The terminals 36 for the energizing coil 35 are located exteriorly of the housing for convenient access by the operator.

The armature 38 for the base actuator 15 is located within the central aperture of the cover as shown in FIG- URE 2, and said armature includes a metal part 40 consisting of metal laminations similar to the field magnet and a plastic cover part 41 which retains the metal part, since the latter is pivoted to the plastic cover by the pin 42. The top exposed surface of the plastic cover part 41 is formed into a projection of dovetail shape 43 as shown in FIGURE 3, and which makes it possible for a contact block to be operatively connected to the armature of the base actuator all in a manner to be presently described. The armature 38 is guided in its reciprocating movements by vertical projections which ride in the grooves 23. At least two coil springs 44 are provided for yieldingly biasing the armature 38 in an upward direction so that upon energization of the coil 35 the metal part 40 and thus the armature 38 is pulled down against the coil springs to compress them.

The details of the contact block 12 are shown in FIG- URES 5,6 and 7. The plastic housing for the block 12 is substantially rectangular in top plan, including a bottom Wall 45, side walls 46 and 47, and end walls 48 and 49. The side walls 46 and 47 are formed with outwardly extending ribs 50 which provide compartments for the stationary contacts 51 associated with wall 46 and for the stationary contacts 52 associated with wall 47. Each contact is fixedly secured to the block by a rivet 53 and the inwardly extending ends of the contacts 51 and 52, respectively, are provided with silver contacts 54 and 55 on both top and bottom surfaces. Each of the stationary contacts is also provided with a terminal screw such as 56 for fastening a conductor or a wire to the said stationary terminals.

The contact block 12 retains a carrier 57 for the movable bridging contacts 58, the said contacts 58 carrying at their respective ends the silver contacts 59. The contacts 59 on the left, FIGURE 7, are adapted to coact with the contacts 54 of the stationary terminal 51 and the silver contacts 59 on the right are adapted to coact with the contacts 55 of the stationary terminal 52. The carrier 57 is similar in most respects to the carrier shown in FIGURE 11. Three movable bridging contacts 58 are carried by the carrier 57 and for this purpose three openings are formed in the carrier, each opening having an upper half 60 and a lower half 61. When the contacts are normally open the movable contacts 58 are located against the bottom ledge of the upper opening 60 as best shown in FIGURE 6. However, when the contacts are normally closed, the movable contacts 58 are located against the top edge of the lower opening 61. However, with respect to carrier 57 all of the movable contacts are shown in a position for normally open operation. Coil springs are associated with the movable contacts for maintaining the said contacts in either their normally open or normally closed positions. For FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 the coil springs 62 are located above the movable contacts 58 and the said springs thus yieldingly bias the movable contacts in a downward direction to hold them against the bottom ledge, respectively, of the upper openings 60.

The carrier 57 is retained by the contact block in a manner permitting reciprocating movements and it will be observed that the carrier is guided by end projections which ride in the grooves 63 and 64. The groove 63 is formed in end wall 48, and groove 64 is formed in the releasable slide 65. The slide is in turn provided with a vertical end projection which rides in a groove 66 in side wall 49. By means of a top ledge portion integral with the slide, the same can be lifted from or inserted in the side wall 49. When the slide 65 is lifted and removed, then the carrier 57 can be moved laterally in a direction to the right and with the carrier thus released it can be lifted from the contact block. It is necessary for the carrier 57 to be first moved laterally to the right in order to locate the movable contacts 58 out of alignment with the stationary contacts. This is particularly the case when one or more of the movable contacts are located for normally closed operation. When re-inserting the movable carrier a reverse of the above operations is followed.

It will be understood that the carrier 57 is held in its elevated position, in which position the movable contacts are normally open. This holding of the carrier in its elevated position is effected by the armature 38 of the base actuator 10. Thus when the field magnet 30 is magnetized to pull down the armature the carrier 57 is reciprocated downwardly and the normally open contacts 54, 59 and 55, 59 are closed to close the electrical circuits controlled by this particular contact block. For operatively connecting the armature with the carrier the said carrier is provided with a recess 67 in its bottom surface and which is of dovetail shape for receiving the projection 43 of the armature. A projection 68 also of dovetail shape is formed on the top surface of the carrier for operatively connecting the same to the carrier of the contact block 14 or to the carrier of another contact block similar to 12. As previously explained the contact block 12 has three poles and is designed for three-phase circuits of approximately six hundred volts, whereas the contact block 14 has four poles and is designed for handling two single phase circuits of approximately three hundred volts each.

Referring to FIGURES 8, 9 and 10, the contact block 14 essentially consists of a housing substantially rectangular in top plan and which includes a bottom wall 75, side walls 76 and 77, and end walls 78 and 79. The side walls 7 6 and 77 are formed with three outwardly extending ribs 80 which provide compartments for the stationary contacts or terminals 81 for wall 76 and the stationary contacts or terminals 82 for wall 77. Each stationary contact is fixedly secured to the block by a rivet 83 and the inwardly extending end of each stationary contact is provided with silver contacts on both top and bottom surfaces. The silver contacts 84 are located on the end of the stationary terminals 81 and the silver contacts 85 are located on the end of stationary terminals 82. Also, each stationary terminal is provided with a screw such as 86 for fastening a conductor or wire to the said stationary terminal.

The contact block 14 retains a carrier 87 for the movable bridging contacts 88 and which at their terminal ends carry the silver contacts 89. The contacts 89 on the left, FIGURE 10, are adapted to coact with contacts 84 of the stationary terminals 81 and the silver contacts 89 on the right are adapted to coact with the contacts 85 on the stationary terminals 82. Four movable bridging contacts 88 are carried by the carrier 87 and for the purpose four openings are formed in the carrier, each opening having an upper half 90 and a lower half 91. When the contacts are normally open the movable contacts 88 are located against the bottom ledge of the upper openings 90 as shown in FIGURES 9 and 11. However, when the contacts are normally closed, the movable contacts 88 are located against the top ledge of the lower openings 91. FIGURES 9 and 11 show the two inner bridging contacts as located for normally open operation whereas the two end bridging contacts are located for normally closed operation. Coil springs are associated with the movable contacts in both their normally open and normally closed positions. In FIGURES 8 to- :11, inclusive, the coil springs 92 are located above the two centrally located movable contacts and thus said springs yielding-1y bias the contacts in a downward direction to 'hold them against the bottom ledge of the upper openings 90. For the two end movable contacts the coil springs 99 are located below the said contacts within the lower openings 91 and these springs yieldingly bias the contacts in an upward direction to hold them against the top ledge of the bottom openings 91.

The carrier 87 is retained by the contact block 14 in a manner permitting reciprocating movement, for which purpose the carrier is guided by end projections which ride in grooves 93 and 94. The groove 93 is formed in end wall 78 and the groove 94 is formed in the releasable slide 95 as clearly shown in FIGURES 8 and 9. The slide in turn is provided with a vertical end projection which rides in a groove 96 in side wall 79 and by means of a top ledge portion integral with the slide the same can be lifted from or inserted in the side wall 79 all in a manner identical to that as described in connection with the slide 57 for contact block 12.

The carrier 87 is provided with a recess 97 of dovetail shape for receiving a projection of similar shape so as to operatively connect the carrier with the armature of a base actuator or with the carrier of another contact block. Also, for this purpose, the top surface of the carrier is provided with a dovetail projection 98.

'fied by numeral 105. side partition walls 107 depend from the undersurface of For normally open operation the downward movement of the carrier is limited by the movable contacts which engage the stationary contacts followed by limited compression of the coil springs such as 62 and 92. For normally closed operation the up movement of the carrier is also limited by the engagement of the movable contacts with the stationary contacts and which is followed by compression of the coil springs 99, to a limited extent. However, downward movement of the carrier is additionally limited by a releasable base member 100 shown in top plan in FIGURE 12. The base element is carried by each carrier with the fingers 101 of the element extending through the lower openings 61 or 91, thefinge-rs having supporting contact on the bottom ledge of these openings. The body portion of the base element will thus extend along one side of the carrier and the fingers will be disposed on the opposite side, such structure being clearly apparent from FIGURES 7 and 10. Since the base element is supported on its carrier, the element in turn provides a support for the coil springs 99 which are positioned by the base element within the lower openings 61 and 91. For this positioning purpose the base element has upward extending projections 102. From FIGURES 7 and 10 it will be observed that the body portion of the base element 100 and the fingers 101 thereof overlie the bottom wall 45 for the contact block 12, and the bottom wall 75 for the contact block 14. Thus when the carrier is actuated in a down direction the base element will engage the bottom wall on respective sides of the carrier and the coil springs 99 will thus be compressed, and the normally closed movable contacts will be Withdrawn from their respective stationary contacts to open the electrical circuit controlled thereby. It will be understood, of course, that this down movement of the carrier is suflicient to move the normally open movable contacts into a closed position with their respective stationary contacts.

An additional limiting stop is provided for the carriers to limit their movement in an upward direction. The structure is the same for both carriers and consists of stop projections 104 which extend vertically and outwardly on bot-h sides of the carrier. Each contact block includes a cover of clear plastic which provides a window in addition to forming a dust cover. The cover is substantially the same for both contact blocks and is identi- Inside partition walls 106 and outthe cover and each group of partition walls includes a number corresponding to the compartments of the contact block. Thus the cover 'for the contact block 12 has three partition walls 106 on both sides of the carrier and three partition walls 107 which are located inwardly from each edge of the cover. The cover for the contact block 14 has four of both groups of partition walls as clearly shown in FIGURE 11. The spaces between the partition walls 106 form slots 108 which are wide enough to receive the stop projections 104. Since the slots extend to the top wall of the cover, this structure forms a stop limiting upward movement of the carriers.

Each cover 105 is releasably secured to its contact block by two corner screws 110 and which are received in the threaded recesses 111, FIGURES and 8. Each contact block also carries a captive screw, FIGURE 13, identified by numeral 112 for the contact block 12 and 114 for the contact block 14. Each screw is located in a vertical bore 115 extending completely through its block, the bore providing a shoulder 116. Each screw includes a body portion 117, a lower threaded extension 118 and an internally threaded head 120. The body portion 117 of the screw is held captive within its block by the shoulder 116 and by the cover 105. As shown in FIGURE 13 the lower exterior-1y threaded extension 118 of screw 114 is threaded in the head 120 of the screw 112. Captive screws such as shown in FIGURE 13 are located in each block at diagonal corners opposite the securing screws 110, and the structure makes possible the securing or fixing of the base actuator and the contact blocks in a stacked relation.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawings, as various other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the are without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an industrial type relay, in combination, a base actuator including a housing containing a field magnet, a solenoid in close surrounding relation with the field magnet for magnetizing the same when the solenoid is energized, an armature retained by the housing and which is reciprocated in one direction when the field magnet is magnetized, a contact block in stacked relation on the base actuator and removable as a unit from the base actuator, a plurality of stationary contacts retained by the block and which are disposed in pairs of spaced but aligned relation as regards each pair, a plurality of bridging contacts for engaging the pairs of stationary contacts, respectively, to electrically close the circuits controlled thereby, a carrier for the bridging contacts mounted in the contact block for limited reciprocating movement to thus effect similar movement of the bridging contacts, and said armature and movable carrier being releasably interconnected by releasable interconnecting means, said carrier and said contact block removable as a unit from said anmature and base actuator.

2. An industrial type relay as defined by claim 1, wherein the movable carrier has releasable interconnecting relation with the armature by means of a dovetail shaped projection and a dovetail shaped recess provided by the parts respectively.

3. An industrial type relay as defined by claim 1, additionally including a cover of clear plastic for the contact block and which provides a dust shield for the stationary and also the bridging contacts, and means for releasably securing the contact block in stacked relation on the base actuator with the armature and movable carrier in connected relation, said means including a securing screw located within a bore extending from the top to the bottom surface of the block, said screw being held captive within the bore by a shoulder provided by the bore and by said cover, said captive screw having an exteriorly threaded extension projecting below the bottom surface, and said captive screw having an interiorly threaded head and which is accessible from the top surface of the block.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/ 1963 Tateishi 200104 1/1966 Waldorf 200-168 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,218,084 12/1959 France.

OTHER REFERENCES Electronic Controls, Inc., Bulletin No. TB 1263-10M, T-Bar Relays, December 1963.

References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

R. N. ENVALL, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN AN INDUSTRIAL TYPE RELAY, IN COMBINATION, A BASE ACTUATOR INCLUDING A HOUSING CONTAINING A FIELD MAGNET, A SOLENOID IN CLSE SURROUNDING RELATION WITH THE FIELD MAGNET FOR MAGNETIZING THE SAME WHEN THE SOLENOID IS ENERGIZED, AN ARMATURE RETAINED BY THE HOUSING AND WHICH IS RECIPROCATED IN ONE DIRECTION WHEN THE FIELD MAGNET IS MAGNETIZED, A CONTACT BLOCK IN STACKED RELATION ON THE BASE ACTUATOR AND REMOVABLE AS A UNIT FROM THE BASE ACTUATOR, A PLURALITY OF STATIONARY CONTACTS RETAINED BY THE BLOCK AND WHICH ARE DISPOSED IN PAIRS OF SPACED BUT ALIGNED RELATION AS REGARDS EACH PAIR, A PLURALITY OF BRIDGING CONTACTS FOR ENGAGING THE PAIRS OF STATIONARY CONTACTS, RESPECTIVELY, TO ELECTRICALLY CLOSE THE CIRCUITS CONTROLLED THEREBY, A CARRIER FOR THE BRIDGING CONTACTS MOUNTED IN THE CONTACT BLOCK FOR LIMITED RECIPROCATING MOVEMENT TO THUS EFFECT SIMILAR MOVEMENT OF THE BRIDGING CONTACTS, AND SAID ARMATURE AND MOVABLE CARRIER BEING RELEASABLY INTERCONNECTED BY RELEASABLE INTERCONNECTING MEANS, SAID CARRIER AND SAID CONTACT BLOCK REMOVABLE AS A UNIT FROM SAID ARMATURE AND BASE ACTUATOR. 